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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Feds Sue Mining Firms Agencies Say Companies Didn’t Help Assess Damage To Basin

From Staff And Wire Reports

Settlements with the state of Idaho and the Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe should have resolved issues the federal government wants to raise in a lawsuit against seven mining companies, a Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. spokesman said.

The U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Department of Agriculture notified the companies that it plans to sue them for a century of damage to the Coeur d’Alene basin. That damage was caused by mining and smelting in the Silver Basin, a letter from the agencies to the companies said.

The government intends to sue because the mining companies did not participate in the natural resource damage assessment, as requested, in 1991.

The long-expected notice went to Hecla Mining Co. and Coeur d’Alene Mines, ASARCO Inc. of New York, Sunshine Mining Co. and Sunshine Precious Metals Inc. of Boise, and Union Pacific Railroad Co. of Omaha, Neb.

Callahan Mining Co., which merged with Coeur d’Alene Mines four years ago, also was named. A bankrupt Gulf USA, the last operator of the defunct Bunker Hill lead and zinc smelter in Kellogg, is not named.

Coeur d’Alene Mines takes the position “the company didn’t conduct any operations that damaged resources,” said Tony Ebersole, director of investor relations for the company. Still, it settled with the state of Idaho and Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe to resolve such claims a few years ago, he said.

“The question is what natural resources the federal government is addressing that were not settled in previous settlements,” Ebersole said. “Our assessment is that this has been addressed and resolved.”

Coeur d’Alene Mines owns a half interest in two silver mines in the Wallace area. It agreed to pay the tribe $70,000 in 1992 to avoid litigation over pollution from the operations and Callahan settled with the tribe for $280,000.

These companies, and a number of Silver Valley mining companies, settled a state claim over natural resource damages in the mid-1980s for $4.5 million.

Officials at the other companies could not be reached for comment about the new suit.

The old Bunker Hill smelter is the focus of a 21-square-mile Superfund cleanup project for which Silver Valley mining companies, minus Gulf, also are paying under a consent order with the Environmental Protection Agency.

This week’s letters from regional administrators of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service came despite attempts to resolve natural resource damage claims out of court.

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, had been pursuing a legislative solution to the natural resource damage controversy. Craig’s staff declined comment on the pending lawsuits.

Two months ago, a citizen’s advisory committee to the Coeur d’Alene Basin Restoration Project also urged the government and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe not to sue.

Advisory committee leader Michael Schlepp of Cataldo wrote for the panel on May 15 that filing suit “could interfere with ongoing remediation in the basin” being funded by the mining companies. That activity has included streambed realignment and removal of mine tailings.

Superfund cleanup addresses specific human health hazards, such as heavy metals that were found in yards and playgrounds near the smelter, while the natural resources assessment includes fish, plants, wildlife and other values.

, DataTimes